The One with The Move

Sunday, May 26, 2013

We're alive and well in good ol' Redmond, Washington.

Getting here was a blur of craziness.
It started Wednesday night when I wasn't ready to say goodbye to friends yet so we hosted a curry dinner at our favorite park.
Bye Mizukawas - good luck in Tennessee! Bye Malans - good luck in Oklahoma! Bye Olsons - good luck in Arizona! Bye Millers - good luck in Texas!

I should have taken "before" pictures, but I was too wrapped up in the moment.
Bye Jenny - love you!

Fox and the Olson twins went around and around and around this round table dozens of times. It's funny how simple things can keep kids entertained for so long.

My hubby and baby.

I'm so happy we got to be with our friends for a final hoorah before we left.

Thursday morning the packers showed up at 10am. They immediately got to work and started storing our life into cardboard boxes.

Thhheeeyyyy'rrreeee hhhheeeerrrrreeee!!! #poltergeistreference

For lunch I walked Fox and Jane down to In-N-Out. Yes, there is an In-N-Out within walking distance of our apartment. Or, at least there was. There ain't nuttin' but trees within walking distance here!

Jane didn't get much to eat so I fed her in the midst of the chaos.

Things were just too chaotic though, there wasn't any place for us to "hang out" and just be, so I packed the kids and cat into our car and we drove out to Westlake Village to stay our last couple nights in California at my aunt/uncle/cousin's house. Aunt Natalie was a wonderful hostess and made me a delicious panini for dinner.

Once Fox discovered cousin Daniel's room, I never saw him again. Not really, but he did spend a lot of time in there!

He found another round object to run circles around like unto the table at the curry dinner.

New toys are always such a lifesaver! I should start doing toy trades with friends every week.
For dinner Jane had some mac'n'cheese. I just think she's adorable.
Friday morning, while I was still at my family's house, Chris had spent the night alone in South Pas and was there when the movers showed up. We kept in touch throughout the day and then after the kid's naps I headed back to South Pas one last time. The apartment was completely empty except some cobwebs and dirt.
Fox was a little confused.
Joey was out of sorts too. Jane was happy as ever as always.
I spy two cuties in the window!
All our stuff was loaded up into ginormous ghetto shipping crates which will be freighted across the ocean somehow, someway. Maybe on a boat that'll go through the Panama Canal? Or maybe it'll go all the way around the bottom of South America? Either way, our stuff has a long way to go and I have no idea when we'll be seeing it again. Hopefully sooner rather than later!

Bye house that we've loved so much for four years!

I wanted to go on one last walk around our neighborhood before we drove away for good.

Bye my most favorite house in South Pas! Bye parrots of Pasadena (again!). Bye beautiful palm trees! Bye house with the red door that was in more commercials than I ever thought possible!

Bye beautiful South Pasadena!

I cried as we drove away from our home. Saying goodbye is hard.

We spent the night at the Taylor's and got up super early Saturday morning and were on the road by 6am. The route from Westlake Village, CA to Redmond, WA? 18 hours. Over 1100 miles. Snap.

We wanted to get it over with and just bust it out in a day. And we did. And it was a long day. But it's all over now and here we are and life is good.

Mt. Shasta, CA.

By mid-afternoon my neck was chaffed from my seatbelt because I was turning around constantly to help the kids.

We arrived at 12:30am and put the kids to sleep after giving them baths to calm them down.

So here we are in beautiful Redmond, Washington for the next 6 weeks or so. We don't know exactly when we're flying to Germany, hopefully Chris will find out when he goes to bootcamp in a couple weeks. Many adventures to come!

10 comments

Paige, I totally felt the nostalgia of your post. I recently experienced staring at my empty apartment and remembering exactly where Isabel took her first steps and where we decorated our Christmas tree, our walk to the mailboxes, etc. I have to remind myself that all those memories are coming with me. It's hard and that's ok :)

I can completely relate to your post having moved 10 times in 13 years with my parents. Hopefully all your stuff will have made it to Germany before you get there. I'll be watching for further updates.

Paige, I totally got emotional reading your post. I can only imagine how you were attached to your home and your neighbourhood. You have a wonderful adventure ahead of you, lots of memories to be made. I look forward to seeing all the updates on your blog. Good luck with everything!

PS - I also love seeing what Jane is up to, she's so close in age to Alexia, it's fun to see the similarities.

Dang! All your "goodbye" posts have made me cry! Remember when we went apartment hunting and you wanted that place so bad! Remember someone else had snapped it up right before us? Remember that their deal fell through and the apartment became YOURS? I couldn't help but feel like you got that apartment for a reason. I'm pretty sure there were LOTS of reasons why you were destined to live there. What a wonderful time you've had! I love that neighborhood and I love all the friends you made in your ward. I'm sad to see everyone going in different directions but excited to see what's coming up next!

This made me cry, too! I am so excited for you but I feel a little sad as well. That was such a great spot to have been...great people, great apartment, great weather...great Disneyland! But...keep looking forward. Love you.

By the end of your "Bye" pictures, I was tearing up! I've moved a lot, too, and it is really so bittersweet. I am always so excited up until I see my house empty that last time, then all of the sad emotions come flooding in. You would think I would learn not to go back one last time, but I never do. =)

welcome!

I’m from Seattle. Chris is from Denver. We met at BYU and got married in 2007 in Nauvoo, IL. Chris graduated from the USC School of Dentistry in 2013 through an Army scholarship. We just returned from Grafenwöhr, Germany after being stationed there for 4 years and we LOVED traveling all around Europe! Now we're stationed at Ft. Lewis, Washington. I’m a stay-at-home-working-mom to our son Fox and daughter Jane. Scrapbooking is my passion and I have my own signature collections with Pink Paislee called Fancy Free, Take Me Away, Oh My Heart, and Turn the Page. I’m a blogger for Stamp & Scrapbook Expo, a teacher at Big Picture Classes and Craftsy, on the design team of Scrapbook & Cards Today and Kerri Bradford Studio, and I have an Etsy shop on the side. I love teaching in-person scrapbooking and bookbinding workshops whenever and wherever I can! Thanks for stopping by!